N.J. health department finds more than a dozen state health violations at Meadowlands Hospital

A report released yesterday by the state Department of Health and Senior Services identifies more than a dozen violations of state health guidelines at Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus.

During a July 6 inspection of the medical facility, state officials found items not properly sterilized, an anesthesiologist entering an operating room without sanitizing his hands, and medical records indicating hospital officials failed to obtain written informed consent forms for patients receiving anesthesia, according to the report.

The hospital has to respond within 10 days to the 25-page report with a plan to correct the deficiencies, according to state Department of Health spokeswoman Donna Leusner.

Leusner said the state inspected the hospital in early July because of a complaint.

The 230-bed hospital, formerly a nonprofit, was sold to Newark-based MHA LLC late last year. A hospital spokesman could not be reached to comment, and a woman who answered the phone at the hospital said no one would be available to comment until today.

The report has raised the hackles of labor unions.

The reported deficiencies are evidence that Meadowlands Hospital officials have been rushing procedures and staffing too few nurses, said Jeanne Otersen, policy director for Health Professionals and Allied Employees.

The union represents 12,000 nurses and healthcare workers in the state.

“These are serious issues that reflect the need for the state to call a monitor to that hospital,” Otersen said.

Otersen was particularly disturbed by the report’s finding that the hospital does not have an acuity system for nurse staffing. Such a system would indicate whether the hospital has proper staffing for its number of patients and the severity of their conditions.

Leusner could not say whether the hospital has submitted a corrective action plan to the state. That plan would not be available to the public until it has been reviewed by state officials, she said.